Walk the Red Carpet at the WinSome Launch Party!

Welcome to the launch of ToWinSome.com – a blog magazine about crossing cultures on a God-adventure. We’re glad you’re here!

Every Hollywood premier has a familiar cast of characters: the stars, the red carpet, the paparazzi, the gift bags. It’s a chance to celebrate accomplishments and thank the wider team involved in a project. And of course, (who are we kidding) a chance to make some noise around a brand new product. We can’t guarantee paparazzi, but we do have a new beginning to celebrate, some stars to honor, and some gifts to give away.

A new beginning

When my husband and I landed overseas we realized there were certain gaps in our understanding – that we were sometimes re-inventing the wheel unnecessarily. We received helpful cross-cultural training before we moved, but like pre-marital counseling, it could all be a bit theoretical until you’re in the thick of it!

Even more than learning concepts, we wanted community. We wanted to hear from people who’d been where we were going (literally and figuratively!) and had lived to tell the tale. We wanted to hear the ache and faith and sheer guts behind the concepts. The goal of the stories, articles, and interviews you’ll find here is to give you a ring-side seat to what is happening in the world right now. It’s a chance to be included in a community of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

We hope to bring you helpful information around cross-cultural issues and stories that inspire – whether you’re the one climbing on a plane or the one left waving at the gate. Whether you’re accepting your first dinner invitation in your new host country, or trying to host a foreign neighbor properly. I’m no expert – but I do know a few! I look forward to connecting you with them, so you benefit from what we’ve learned along the way.

Get the latest content as it rolls out. You can check back weekly for new posts, or sign up to our blog’s RSS feed. If you’re someone who likes to limit your time browsing the web, you can click here to get our weekly newsletter delivered straight to your email inbox. You’ll get one email per week, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

A party’s only really a party if people come. If you’ve enjoyed what you found here, we’d love it if you invited your friends. You could spread the word about our launch to your church network, to friends via email or social media, or by mentioning us on your blog. There are little icons around the site to make sharing simple (check out our approach to privacy and sharing here).

Walk the Red Carpet

Who are the stars at our launch party? YOU, friends! You’re the community behind this idea – the people living out adventures around the world. This is your chance to strut your stuff on the WinSome red carpet – except we don’t really care who made your outfit.

Instead, leave a comment below this post. Introduce yourself and let us know where you live in the world. We’d love to write for real people, rather than the faceless “Internet”! And in place of the shameless self-promotion that walks down most red carpets, how about you share the most recent book/person/product/quote that inspired you, so we all benefit. (Relevant links welcome.)

Um, I was told there would be gifts…

…And you’re right! Two lucky commenters will be chosen at random from the list below. You’ll receive a book of your choice from our booklist, delivered to you by Amazon. Yes, even internationally. (If you live in a tent in the desert somewhere… we’ll work it out.) Be sure to leave a legitimate email address so we can let you know you’ve won! You have through the end of the day August 15th (EST) to be included in the drawing. Winners will be chosen and listed back here on the 16th.

Thank you for stopping by and wishing us well on this new venture. May this magazine be for your benefit, and God’s glory.

Grace, Editor

21 Responses

Thank you so much for your hard work. This is a super duper site. It looks so attractive, fresh and clean!!
Think you are both Mighty! I know who is behind you and holding you up!!
Well done.
I know there will be many ripples from this. And they will all be a blessing.

Living here in the least churched state in the US. Loving being connected to what some are doing Out There cross-culturally. I am so looking forward to reading here at your blog. Btw…the link above to “approach to privacy and comments” took me to a blank page…

Raising littles in the ‘Bul. Currently having my mind blown by:
1) Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman, 2) Stop & Listen album by Bethany Dillon (particularly Get Up & Walk), and the updated A Woman’s Heart study on the tabernacle by Beth Moore.

So excited for you watching this become dream become reality! The site is beautiful! I originally read the post on my phone, but coming to the full web version the pictures are so striking and really drew me in. I look forward to sharing this with as many people as i can!

Hi, you can call me Jeremiah. My wife and I are from to different sides of the planet, and we try hard not to be “of this world,” but we’ll leave it at that for now. We were both re-challenged recently through tears and passion in The Insanity of G.d by Nik Ripken. I am very interested to see how this site is used for His glory. . . Thanks for your investment in greater things.

Love the site. Looking forward to reading more and gaining more insight. Currently looking to God for support in relationship building and language learning in the MidEast. I was most recently encouraged by this website! Now, about these prizes…

This is surely going to be a great resource to come back to again and again. I think of it like a favourite book, yet that’s still being written and that we get to contribute too! I’ll definitely be watching this space…

What a great resource! Thanks for getting this project off the ground. This is Abigail hailing in from Boston. What’s currently inspiring me is a book called “Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother”. Not too missional or spiritual, but inspiring nonetheless!

So glad to have found this site. My husband and I are are church planting in Nagoya, Japan. We have been here nearly 10 years now, but still feel I have much to learn and know I will benefit hugely from being part of this global community. Thanks for making it happen.